As a result of Original Sin we all
experience disorder in our lives. Emotional disorders, dysfunctional families,
or family disorder, mental disorder, social disorders, economic disorders,
personal disorders, work disorders, and finally the most serious of all
disorders are moral and spiritual disorders which springs from Original Sin and
personal or actual sin.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola in the
Spiritual Exercises invites us through prayer, meditation, contemplation and
Examination of Conscience to work on overcoming the disorder in our life so as
to know God’s will and to carry it out faithfully. This will give us great
peace of heart, mind, and soul. For this reason the Augustinian definition for
peace hits the mark: “Peace is the tranquility of order.” That
is to say a prerequisite for peace is interior and even exterior order—a
well-ordered life.
The Holy Spirit, being the Third
Person of the Blessed Trinity, is a God of order. He wants to help us to order
our lives. Now is the time! When Our Lady appeared to Saint Juan Diego in
Mexico Dec. 12th, 1531, she told him to climb the hill and to cut
and gather the roses and then to put them in his tilma. Obedient to her, she
beckoned Juan Diego to come close to her and with her own hands she ordered the
roses that were simply cast in a disarrayed fashion in his tilma. Devotion and
prayer to Our Lady can be a sure and efficacious means to overcoming the moral
disorders in our lives and experiencing a deep peace of soul.
This presentation will suggest ten
specific areas in our personal, family and professional life that we can
examine closely and honestly and see if we can make some modification so as to
order and improve our lives. If done
well and offered as a gift in prayer to Jesus through the hands of Mary, this
plan can be a powerful motivation to grow in our spiritual lives and pursue a
pathway that leads to sanctity. Jesus commands us: “Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.”
These then will be ten areas in our
lives that we can look at, examine and see what we can do to improve, so as to
order the disordered and thereby achieve true peace of heart, mind and soul.
1.
“It
is necessary to pray always without giving up.”(Lk. 18:1) Examine your prayer
life with objectivity… Now write down at least one concrete way that you
can improve your prayer life…
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2.
“Unless you do penance you will perish.”( Lk. 13: 5) For an eagle to soar
to the heights of the highest mountains, he must have two strong and health
wings. For a follower of Jesus to be faithful he needs the two wings: prayer
and penance, which will give power, patience, perseverance and ultimate
peace of presence in a painfully morally poor planet!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3.
“Be
reconciled to God.”(II Corinthians 5:20) Confession! We are all sinners and have fallen short of
the honor and glory of God. Thanks be to God that Jesus instituted a Sacrament
in which we can always filled with hope start again—that is the Sacrament of
Penance or Reconciliation. Make better confessions and work on a better
preparation.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4.
“I am the Bread of life. Whoever eats the bread I give will have
everlasting life and I will raise him up on the last day. (Jn. 6: 22- 71—The Bread of Life
discourse) Make better Holy Communions. Starting now receive Holy
Communion as if it were your first, last, only and on which you will be judged
for all eternity.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5.
“Love
one another as I have loved you.”(Jn. 13:34) Rewind the film of your social relations.
Maybe some relations are harmful more than helpful. Get the axe and cut.
Sometimes better to sever rather than cultivate. True friends should help us to get closer to
God. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6.
“Be slow to quick to listen and slow
to speak.” (Read entire chapter of James 3) The saints teach us this principal
with respect to speech, speak in three occasions: 1) to praise God, 2) Accuse yourself (of your
own shortcomings); 3. Edify your neighbor—uses words to build up rather than
tear down.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7.
“”You
are the light of the world… let your light shine before men so that by seeing
your works they may give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 5: 13-16—Sermon
on the Mount) PERMANENT FORMATION.
It is incumbent upon all followers of Christ, who is the Light of the
world, to work assiduously and constantly on their own permanent formation in
the faith. The more we fill ourselves
with the knowledge and love of Christ the more we can give to others._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8.
“I
have come to cast fire on the earth and I am not at peace until that fire be
enkindled.” (Lk. 12:49) APOSTOLIC
ZEAL. If we love Jesus then we
should have His same interests and loves at heart. More than anything else on earth Jesus longs
for the salvation of immortal souls; that is the reason for which He shed His
Precious Blood on Calvary that 1st Friday that we call “Good.” For
the love of Jesus I should yearns for and strive to save
souls.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9.
“He who is faithful in the small will be faithful in the bigger things.”(Lk. 16:10 ) God has given us all a vocation—single, married,
Religious Life, or the Priesthood. In all of these vocations there is one
common denominator: the call to be faithful. Let us work on being faithful in
the small works and this will set the foundation to be faithful in the
larger. Let us pray that at the end of
our lives Jesus will say: “Well done faithful servant… (Mt. 25:
14-30—Parable of the Talents)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. “Behold
I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.” (Lk.
1: 38) MARIAN DEVOTION. May our
knowledge, love, devotion, trust and in Our Lady grow on a daily basis. True
devotion to Mary is one of the clearest signs that we are on the pathway of
holiness. Love and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary leads us into love
and devotion to the most Sacred Heart of
Jesus.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Conclusion. The positive effects of a well-written,
orderly, concrete and practical PLAN OF LIFE are countless, but we will list
just a few to encourage all to sit down and hammer out their own plan of life
or if you like “Reform of life”. You
will never regret it!
1.
Time will be well-used--- Using time
to the “Max!.
2.
Obviously you will not waste time
which is so precious in the eyes of God. We have only one life and we should
use it to the maximum capacity!
3.
ORDER. As said earlier, sin causes disorder, a
well-written and planned out “Plan of life” can help us to order the disordered
in our lives.
4.
PEACE. Saint Augustine defines it well: “Peace is the tranquility of order.”
5.
WORK MORE EFFICACIOUS. If done, our work will be done better and
with less expenditure of time and energy.
6.
LESS FRUSTRATION. Often we are overwhelmed with frustration due
to failed projects and attempts. A Plan
of life can help us to do the project once and well done!
7.
Charity towards others. The more good we do on a spiritual plane the
more this redounds to the benefit of others. Your spiritual victory is mine too!
8.
MERITS FOR HEAVEN. By working hard and with the Lord you will be
storing up more merits for yourself in heaven.
9.
IMITATE THE SAINTS. One of the hallmarks of the saints is that
they work hard for the Lord and they do immense good because they have a goal
and purpose dictated by a Plan of Life.
10. GOOD EXAMPLE. By working with order and method and with
purity of intention we are giving good example for others to follow. Parents that have order, method and a Plan of
life will bless their children with the same impulse.
